013

[madamemoiselle]

{Amshel is back, all is well in Diva's world. Or, that is, as "well" as it normally is. She's opted for a blood transfusion today, so Diva is sitting in a chair with one arm out and taking in a steady drip of blood. It's not something that happens often (especially when Amshel is encouraging her to just go 'hunting'), but it's a nice, peaceful alternative. It's really too bad it's not practical.

But in any case, Diva's lap is full of photographs. Some look very old, while some look more recent. There's not a lot that can be done during the process, so Diva has decided to take a stroll through her memories, humming contently as she flips through the photographs with a fond expression.}

Comments

[madamemoiselle]

...Thought about what?

[didorothy]

How old you must be. Well, how young.

[madamemoiselle]

{She laughs} Ne, but the years I go to sleep, it's not like time stops.

But...I think I know what you mean by that. Still, you'd be surprised how much you can live through in 14 years.

[didorothy]

It still explains some things. [not an excuse, but a reason. It's easier for Sam if he has reasons, and he's a bit more at ease now]

[madamemoiselle]

...It does? Like what?

[didorothy]

How you act. What you know and what you don't know. Combined with how you were treated and the sort of environment you had... the psychologists back home would go wild over a chance to learn about you.

[madamemoiselle]

{Laughs softly} Psychologists, huh? You know, Grigori liked that science quite a bit. Not that anyone really knows that, but...The only thing he ever wrote about it, Amshel has it. It was about the minds of some of his patients, but, well, Amshel has it because some of our secrets are in it.

{Thoughtfully} A lot has changed since then, though.

[didorothy]

Early nineteen hundreds? It's another world since then. It's impressive that you manage to adapt every time you wake up.

[madamemoiselle]

Oh, it's really a pain too. It takes about...three months usually. Five if I have to learn a new language. Ah, but the hardest was going from the 40s to the 70s, and in completely different countries. That was...really difficult to learn. It's a good thing Karl was with me, or I would have never learned, I think.

[didorothy]

World War II Germany to wartime Vietnam, right?

[madamemoiselle]

Right~ And my role in those two wars was completely different too. Like for most of 1944, I stayed with Josef in Poland, and the rest I was just accompanying Amshel, Solomon, and James around. I didn't really do much at all, other than the occasional recital for whatever politician wanted to hear me sing....But in Vietnam, I was right on the front lines. Or, kind of. It was when Cinq Fleches was testing their new drugs.

There's an expression that Armand, that was the former head of the project, used to describe it. "Si vous voulez cacher un cadavre, cachez-le dans un monticule des cadavres.", or "If you want to hide a corpse, hide it in a pile of corpses." It's very morbid, but...Well, it's the best way to describe it without actually having to get into details. But that was terrible. If, before, I'd ever been close to feeling bad for another person...It would have been then.

[didorothy]

[takes her hand in his]

What drugs?

[madamemoiselle]

{She shifts uncomfortably; the drug itself doesn't bother her, but its origin and original creation are much more troubling} Ne...That would be...It's called Delta 67. It...makes people into Chiropterans.

[didorothy]

[well, that sounds nothing short of horrible, but there's something else--] What else don't you like about it, Diva?

[madamemoiselle]

{Shakes her head quickly} Oh, it's nothing! Don't worry about it, Sam~

[didorothy]

Diva.

[madamemoiselle]

...{Frowns, then quietly} Just...How it was, um, discovered and used at first, I guess. Everything about it when it it was made for the first time.

{She considers her words for a few moments before she looks back up to him} Ne, but please don't ask me anything else about it. Not that part, anyways. Someday...I might be able to tell you, but...not now.

[didorothy]

[he pauses, considering her, looking at her very closely and debating whether or not to let it go. Then he nods]

All right. I'll let it go.

[madamemoiselle]

Thank you. It's not like I don't trust Sam or anything like that, but...it's not something I like to talk about to anyone, not even my Chevalier.

{Which is certainly saying something since she admitted the majority of terrible things she had done to Sam; but it's time to change the subject!} You know, though, since you mentioned it, it can't have been any easier for Sam to get used to it, right? Actually, going back seems like it'd be harder to me.

[didorothy]

[nods]

[laughs, almost self-mocking] You don't know how many times I've been treated like I'm a foreigner. From a whole different planet. I still do get that, but it's not as bad.

[madamemoiselle]

Well, it must be strange to talk about things that don't...ah, exist yet! Or anything like that. But, ne, it must be hard to go back for that reason too. Like going back and losing things that were made after that time.

[didorothy]

There are things to gain that've been lost in time, too.

[madamemoiselle]

Like what?

[didorothy]

I don't know, it's a... there's just a different feel to the past. Like a lost childhood, a lost innocent. Not that it is innocent, not that the country hasn't lost its naivety. But it's... it's like being young again. Like waking up again after sleeping for too long.

And Roger Delgado's still alive, which is a bonus. They only landed on the moon four years ago, it's amazing. And Nixon's still in office. I saw the lead singer of T Rex down at a club, it was... he's dead now. Died in a motor accident. All of these dead people, still walking.

[madamemoiselle]

Oh, that makes sense then. I...couldn't imagine going back. Not only because of things like that, but...seeing events play out again. Especially when you knew what would happen.

I guess that's what you were talking about a while ago. Around when we first met, really. Sam said a while ago to that I was brave, but...thinking about that, I think Sam's braver. Going back...That seems harder than going forward.